Our Trust Staff Newsletter January 2020 Newsletter

Latest news

I hope the start of the new term is going well for everyone. This issue of our Trust wide newsletter contains news from our NQT Conference Trust leaders, who we have invited to update colleagues on We held our first Trust NQT conference at The Holiday Inn on what has been happening in their schools over the last term. 8th January. This was a great networking opportunity, as well I would also like to introduce a new Trustee who has joined as a chance for us to congratulate our NQTs on successfully The Two Counties Trust and give you an update on recent completing their first term. developments. We had a range of speakers, from several schools within the Trust. Sessions focused on our key priorities: Firstly, I would like to inform everyone that I have decided • Motivating boys to retire in December 2020. The time is right for me personally to retire and I also believe that it is now a good • Challenging the most able time for the Trust to take the next step in its development. • Raising the achievements of disadvantaged pupils. I’m tremendously proud of what we’ve created and the A huge thank you to all of those involved in the organisation contributions of many talented staff across the Trust who and delivery of these sessions, which were very well received. are committed to enabling our students to be the best they can be. There was a fantastic atmosphere and a real The Trust’s Board are working to appoint my successor buzz from the outset. and will share more news once the Trustees have made Feedback from our NQTs their final decisions for the new Chief Executive. was very positive and we - Dick Vasey, Chief Executive will use the comments to assist in our planning for further NQT support and New Trustee for next year’s conference. I would like to welcome Andrew Durrant to the Board of Trustees. Andrew has over 15 years’ Congratulations to Jenny Monk experience of school governance and he runs M.B.E a successful technology and manufacturing business and brings additional business, IT and Congratulations to Jenny Monk MBE. Jenny is a member finance skills to the Board. of the leadership team at and has recently been honoured with an MBE. Jenny was recognised in the Andrew also works on the Board of a charity, New Year’s Honours List for ‘Services to vulnerable children’ supporting and developing a public park and castle and is a recognising the dedication, passion and time she gave to the Governor of Bilborough Sixth Form College. young people at Clayfield’s House as the Head of Education. In her current role at Friesland School, Jenny is a SENCO and Strategic Plan Mental Health Lead for the school. We are exceptionally proud We have updated our strategic plan to include targets up to be able to call such a committed and caring person part of to 2022, however our main strategic objectives remain the Two Counties Trust. unchanged, which are to:

• Support excellent standards of teaching and learning Dick Vasey which maximises student progress and outcomes. • Maintain a clear vision and develop a strong and Chief Executive efficient central services infrastructure to secure the ongoing improvement and development of the Trust. • Ensure high-quality leadership and governance at Trust Board, Local Governing Body and individual school level.

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News from our Schools

Ashfield School Ashfield School has a long and ‘storied’ history of outstanding performing arts productions. This year, we followed up one immensely challenging show, ‘Les Miserables’, with another technically dazzling, production of ‘West Side Story’ which ran for four sold-out evenings and two Primary matinées. With a full live band, a cast of talented students and a technical and marketing team largely made up of students, we not only showcased the wealth of talent at Ashfield School but presented a perfect opportunity to put the employability skills we have woven so carefully into our curriculum into practice. At last summer’s annual Celebration Evening, at which we reward students for academic, social and community achievement, our guest speaker was former Ashfield student, the playwright and dramatist, James Graham OBE, Olivier Award winner and Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature. He spoke of the value of the Arts in raising aspiration and praised Ashfield School for an unwavering curriculum commitment to drama, music, dance, creativity and imagination. Ashfield School also welcomed John Godber OBE, who is one of Britain’s most respected dramatists, known for observational comedies. John voluntarily gave his time to watch our students perform their exam pieces, offer invaluable feedback and give an inspirational address to students and staff. He left the school impressed by Ashfield’s vibrant and committed Drama team and the collective “seriousness of commitment and the level of enthusiasm demonstrated towards the subject we have pledged our lives to.” Our students and staff were left inspired and uplifted by John Godber’s visit and it leads us to hope that, one day, our current students will return with tales of how the breadth and quality of the Ashfield School curriculum inspired them to go and make their mark in the world.

John Maher, Headteacher Ashfield School

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Frederick Gent School A fundamental value at is the support that we offer each other and the wider community. This has been particularly evident in the charity work that the school has been involved in over the course of the first term. Leading up to Remembrance Day staff and students threw themselves into ‘Freddie’s Bake Off’. This not only raised money for the British Legion but also saw the cakes donated to local care homes. Students donated to Foodbanks, supported Red Nose Day, donated money to worthy causes from non- uniform days and Mr Rennison’s tutor group also undertook charity Secret Santa and got a mention in the local press. The school also had a positive and successful celebration evening. The event, staged at the Derbyshire Hotel, gave parents, staff, primary school colleagues and other groups from within the local community the chance to recognise the fantastic achievements of pupils at Frederick Gent. The night recognised our students’ academic excellence, most notably the Year 11s who left with several grade 9s at GCSE and those pupils who also had strong academic or extra-curricular achievements. One of the highlights of last term was the visit by our pupils to South Africa as part of the iVenture initiative. The visit involved pupils in local charity work and gave them the opportunity to work on giraffe conservation. The pupils involved have referred to the experience as life changing in its impact. There were lots of staff very jealous of what the students had got to do and achieve while in South Africa. To finish the term the school ran what has now become a firm fixture on the calendar, Freddie Factor, an event to showcase the talents of pupils and staff alike. This was a fantastically successful way to finish the term and bring the school and the local community together.

Chris Woollard, Headteacher Frederick Gent School

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Friesland School There has been much going on at Friesland School since the last Trust newsletter. Our Year 8s have had a great experience at Lea Green on an outdoor pursuit, team-building residential and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Upper School Show, ‘Hairspray’ was performed on three consecutive nights to sold out audiences in December. A popular Christmas Market trip to Birmingham took place alongside our Christmas jumper day that raised money for ‘Save the Children’. There has been a big focus on Anti-Bullying with the establishment of new Anti-Bullying ambassadors who have received external training. Our Arts Award students ran an excellent Christmas fundraiser for Macmillan and our sixth formers hosted a lovely Christmas party for Year 2 students from Ladycross Infant’s School. It was great to work with fellow trust member on a joint singing project and our Year 9s have just experienced ‘HARA’, a band with a strong Mental Health Message. In addition, Year 8 experienced a powerful performance of Chelsea’s Choice and our Year 9 students have been sitting LAMDA examinations. A huge congratulation to Charlie Clarke in Year 13 who became the first student at Friesland to get through tothe British Mathematical Olympiad competition after being placed in the top 1000 students nationally in the Senior Mathematical Challenge. The Maths Challenge is a national competition that encourages students to use their mathematical and problem- solving skills that they are continually developing. And by way of contrast, congratulations to Lani Frampton in Year 12, who was selected to perform as a dancer at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award in Aberdeen. She had Peter Monk, Headteacher a fantastic time and contributed an excellent piece to BBC Friesland School Newsround.

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Heritage High School Students at Heritage High School have been working tirelessly over recent months on fundraising and community action projects led by our Student Council and Mrs Newton. Through December, our students generously donated a huge number of items for the school to pass onto local foodbanks, including food items, clothing, toiletries and books. All this activity resulted in a mammoth 2200 items being collected and donated, demonstrating the consideration and generosity of our students and their families.

In the run up to Christmas 2019, in addition to raising over £400 for Weston Park Hospital, our students collected and donated £500 to Sheffield Children’s Hospital for sponsoring a snowflake. Their challenge is now to reach their £1000 target to sponsor a bear on the Sheffield Bear Trail in Summer 2020. Again, all funds raised for this go towards Sheffield Children’s Hospital. Keep up all the fundraising efforts HHS students.

Richard Marlow, Headteacher Heritage High School

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Manor Missing Piece Charity Donation In September, members of our Student Senate met with Cheryl and Gary Broughton from the Missing Piece, The Sudden Child Loss Charity, to hand over a cheque for £961.24. Our Student Senate had raised the money during our Summer Fayre and we could not be happier to donate to an inspiring local charity that is so close to our hearts.

Drop Down Day The second Drop Down Day of the year took place on Thursday 28th November. Drop Down Days are designed around students and staff being off-timetable and taking part in trips or other educational activities within school, provided by external visitors. The Drop Down Day was yet again a huge success, and this time Years 8 and 9 went out on a trip, whilst Year 7 students took part in a 999 challenge day, learning all about the emergency services. Year 10 had a fundamental British values day in the hall and Year 11 had an intervention carousel, preparing them for their exams this year. Christmas Fayre On the final school day of 2019, students and staff gathered in the Manor Hall throughout the morning to enjoy festive activities and to celebrate yet another successful year at The Manor Academy. Students and staff enjoyed the morning listening to Christmas music, playing games, eating food, laughing and enjoying everyone’s company. A special mention goes to the students assisting and working tirelessly organising the Christmas Fayre.

Katrina Kerry, Headteacher Manor Academy

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Selston High School Ruth Eastham were honoured to host an award-winning author to their school on Wednesday 22nd January. Ruth Eastham joined around 130 eager Year 7 students to inspire them with her experiences of reading and writing. The event was designed to promote literacy in school and to empower the students with skills and knowledge about where writing can come from; the ideas that spark imaginations. Ruth promoted her collection of books and talked in detail about her first book, The Memory Cage, which Selston students have been reading in tutor time and in their Literacy Enrichment sessions once a fortnight. But the event didn’t end there; parents were invited to join for an evening session to complete some creative activities with their child. It was a wonderful way to engage students and parents in joint literacy activities and to reignite a love of reading and writing – the foundations of successful literacy.

Safer Internet Forum Jessica Steele recently attended the Safer Internet Forum 2019 in Brussels, Belgium with a theme of “From Online Violence to Digital Respect”. Jessica volunteered to be a Selston High School Digital leader back in July of 2018 and Childnet, the coordinators of the online course, were so impressed with her responses to some of the more challenging questions they asked her to apply for one of the four Digital Champion roles in the UK. After a gruelling video interview, she was successful and began her role as a Digital Champion. She has taken this role seriously and makes monthly group phone calls with the other Digital Champions and Childnet to help them develop their online platform and discuss the current E-safety problems facing young people today. When the opportunity to be involved with the Safer Internet Forum in Brussels came around, Jessica jumped at the chance. Jessica said: “The Safer Internet Forum was an amazing experience, not only because of the conference itself, but because of the amazing people I met from all over Europe. The BIK youth panel were an incredible group of people who have become my lifelong friends and I hope we can all stay in touch. Overall, I loved every second of the Safe Internet Forum and encourage anyone who gets the chance to go!”

Paul Halcro, Headteacher Selston High School

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Swanwick Hall School Students at have been engaged in a range of charity activities recently. Each year, on the last day of the Autumn Term, we ask students to bring in a donation to a local food bank to support families over the Christmas period. This year our students generously donated 2094 items overall. The Enactus Team are a small group of Year 12 students who are leading a project to benefit the local community. Supported by the Next Generation Leaders Team in Nottingham, students have chosen to tackle Elderly Social Isolation in Swanwick. The team of students will work with a local care home as a project partner, this will comprise 17 sessions to run in the Spring and Summer terms, including a tea dance and arts and crafts events. The project will allow students to learn a range of skills including teamwork, leadership, budgeting, planning and communication. During the autumn term the Year 9 ‘Volunteer it Yourself’ group have been busy working on a range of projects both in the classroom and around the wider site to support the school community. Students have manufactured a range of bug houses, and in the spring term they will be mounting these in various locations around school hoping that some of our smaller friends take up residence. Using recycled and unused wood from the technology stores, students decided that they would like to manufacture some large planters to place on the main school drive. Three have been made and put in place and will be planted during the spring term. We have also registered with the Woodland Trust to receive over 150 new trees this term to plant around the school grounds to support the environment and wildlife. Emmy Statham in Year 11 is a member of The Vale School of Dance. Having represented in the World Dance Championships in Portugal last year, she is now through to the live stages of BBC’s ‘The Greatest Dancer’ show. Please Amongst many outstanding achievements by individual vote for them if you are a fan of this programme! students, Ben Wain in Year 12 competed at Junior European Open Champions Week Finals at Alcaidesa Golf Resort, Spain in November. He played five rounds, making the cut for the final day and finished in the top third of the field, having qualified Jonathan Fawcett, Headteacher in the UK in July. Swanwick Hall School

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Wilsthorpe School Duke of Edinburgh 54 Year 9 students from Wilsthorpe have enrolled in the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. They have already started taking part in physical activities both in and out of school, volunteering in the local community and learning new skills – all of which count towards their Duke of Edinburgh Award. In 2020, students will begin their expedition training in which they will learn camp craft, map and navigation skills as well as basic first aid and emergency procedures. Their Practice Expedition is taking place on Saturday 25th April - Sunday 26th April 2020 and their Qualifying Expedition will take place on Saturday 27th June-Sunday 28th June 2020. Our students are very excited to be part of this National award and are already seeing the benefits that it can bring to them and those around them. There is so much interest in the Duke of Edinburgh that many are already looking towards completing their Silver Award next year.

2019 English Schools’ Cross Country Well done to our junior girls in Year 7 and Year 8, on the cross- country team, who travelled to Hull in November to take part in the English Schools’ competition. The girls came third in their region which gave them automatic qualification into the English Schools’ National Cross-Country Finals.

After-school Revision The number of Year 11 pupils attending after-school revision sessions has never been higher, particularly so early on into the academic year. It has been particularly impressive to see students leading revision sessions for other pupils who might not be as able or confident. This is another good example of leadership at Wilsthorpe School.

Jonathan Crofts, Headteacher Wilsthorpe School

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